Rock Art Research

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2005)
Published : Nov 9, 2005

DIGITAL ROCK ART RECORDING: VISUALISINGPETROGLYPHS USING 3D LASER SCANNER DATA

I. Trinks (1), M. Díaz-Andreu (2), R. Hobbs (3), K. E. Sharpe (4)

(1) e-Science Research Institute, University of Durham, United Kingdom
(2) Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, United Kingdom
(3) e-Science Research Institute, University of Durham, United Kingdom
(4) Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, United Kingdom
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Abstract

This paper presents digital data processing techniques for the recording of rock art. 3Dlaser scanning and photogrammetry allow the rapid creation of digital models of rock surfaces withvery high accuracy. Virtual digital models offer great advantages over traditional methods for recordingrock art, such as rubbing, tracing and conventional or digital photography. The application of automatic3D data processing algorithms permits the objective recording of petroglyphs. We present spatial dataprocessing and visualisation algorithms that may be used to colour the virtual rock surface accordingto physical properties, such as relative and absolute elevation and maximum curvature rendering.Presentations in the form of colour and grey-scale images or as contour line plots in 3D and as 2Dprojections are discussed. Data from rock art sites at Rombalds Moor (West Yorkshire) and Lordenshaws(Northumberland) are used to illustrate the methods.